CD Changer

A couple months ago, the electronics in my car's front panel started dying.  The stereo display went blank and the climate control buttons suddenly stopped working - although strangely enough, the actual units themselves were still working fine. I could switch radio stations using the buttons on my steering wheel and change the volume, I just couldn't see what station I was switching to or what the volume level was being set at.  Climate control was exactly the opposite - I could see what the temperature and AC modes were on the display, but had no way of changing any of the settings (fortunately for me, the temp was set at a very reasonable 72F before I lost the ability to control it).

A few years before any of that happened, the CD changer in that same unit broke down.  The AM/FM radio and tape deck were fine, but anytime I would try to access the CD changer, it would give me an error.  I couldn't even eject the 6 CDs that were already in there, those would be stuck there until I decided to pay the dealer to replace the entire stereo system in my car.  At the time, I decided that I would just live without a CD player (and without those CDs), it simply wasn't worth the cost of replacing the whole unit if only one part of it was not working.

Back to present day, after a few more weeks of dealing with a half-working stereo in my car, it eventually stopped responding entirely and I finally sucked it up and took it to the dealer to get the whole thing fixed.  Which they did, albeit for a hefty ransom, and to end this ordeal on a positive note, today I got a nice little surprise in the form of my 6 trapped CDs returned to me in the mail.

Now, I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with this story yet, but I guess for some reason this whole episode got me thinking about blogging.  Today I logged into Blogger for the first time in a long time (looks like the last post was almost exactly 2 years to the day), which I think was actually right around the time my CD changer went down.  Not that correlation implies causation, but hey, it seems there is at least some symmetry there... enough for me to clumsily transition into the subject of blogging and what's been going on in the past couple years during my absence from blogging.

The thing about my CD changer is, I'm glad to have it back, but after not having it for a couple years, I realized that it's something that's quickly becoming outdated.  Just as CDs replaced cassette tapes when I was younger, and cassettes replaced record players in my parents' generation, digital downloads and mp3 players are steadily pushing Compact Discs towards obsolescence.  More on technology later, but I just found it to be surprising to think back to the last time I used my CD player and how much has changed since then.

In the big picture, 2008 doesn't sound like it was that long ago.  But when I really stop to think about it, a lot of big things have actually happened in these last couple years, both in my life as well as the world around me.  We elected our first black President, or as I prefer to think of it, our first non-White President, of which the significance cannot be overstated.  Regardless of whether you agree with his policies or what you think of Obama as a person, the fact that he was elected POTUS clearly has all sorts of huge implications on the way we view race in this country (in a good way of course).



As for me, I turned 30 this year, which as it turned out, wasn't the nightmare I once thought it would be. The year before that, I made a big career change, got a dog, hiked the Grand Canyon, and I finally got LASIK, experiencing life without glasses or contacts for the first time since 2nd grade. So yeah, a lot happened there too.

And getting back to the technology world, I feel like the Internet went through its own revolution of sorts too, in only the last couple years.  The continuing rise of Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, etc., combined with the growing widespread use of smartphones, has totally changed the way we communicate and network with each other in this world. And now that I think of it, in some ways, those factors have just as much to do with my absence from blogging as did the other things going on in my life.

Oh YEEAAH me and Pauly D in Vegas YEEAAAH

All of this is without even mentioning the many pop culture phenomenons that have burst onto the scene in the last couple years, such as Jersey Shore, Glee, Katy Perry, etc.  Even as I'm writing this blog, I'm amazed by how much has happened in these last couple years alone.  The world moves fast, that's for sure. Every one the subjects I just listed could (and should) have been its own blog topic - after all, this page would not have ever existed had it not been for my bizarre desire to record and share my dumb thoughts on whatever dumb subject comes to mind with whoever out there has time to read it.

But hey, maybe I'll still get to writing about all of the above at some point?  I hope so.  I'd like to think that unlike CDs becoming obsolete in the music world, there will always be a place and time for blogging.  Twitter and Facebook are nice ways to communicate at times, but there are still some things that will never fit in a 140-character limit, nor do they belong in a never ending stream of status updates that are simply "Liked" or commented on and then forgotten in a matter of minutes.  So while this blog may never be its own trending topic, I hope I'll still keep coming back here to record my thoughts no matter how much the world around me changes.

*Addendum - for anyone who was wondering, here are the 6 CDs that I got back:
Smashing Pumpkins/Siamese Dream - Oh how I missed thee!
Janet Jackson/Velvet Rope - Used to love this album, I'm not sure why, but it doesn't seem as good anymore
STP/Purple - The first CD I ever bought... as a sophomore in HS.  Which was 14 years ago!  Wow.
Britney Spears/Blackout - No, I am not ashamed to admit that this was in my regular rotation at one point
Coldplay/A Rush Of Blood To The Head - Actually, I AM kind of ashamed of this one
Boyz II Men/Evolution - This album will never not be good

Milestones



There are a couple major milestones I felt worth noting about. First, Pablo (my car) reached 100,000 miles a couple months ago. As I have written about before, my relationship to my car is a special one and I felt both proud and thankful for reaching this milestone. Having driven some pretty awful, unreliable cars in the past, I definitely am not one to take this for granted. The dependable yet always fun driving experience that he has provided me throughout these 100K miles mean the world to me. So here's to another 100!



The other noteworthy event of this summer was the end of the "MTV-era" of my life. It actually wasn't an official grand declaration that "I'll never watch MTV again" or something like that, but in an effort to save about $30-40/month on my cable bill, I switched to the Dish Network "All-HD" plan a few months ago. Which means I still get most of the channels I always watched without skipping a beat (i.e. ESPN, ESPN2, Food Network, Discovery, Local channels, etc). But it just happens that MTV does not have an HD feed and thus does not fall within the All-HD package.

For those who have known me over the years, this may come as a pretty big surprise to hear that I finally "gave up" MTV entirely. It surprised myself too, actually, that I barely thought twice about giving up the channel that I used to watch almost religiously.

My MTV days started maybe later than most people, I never really watched it at all until my freshman year of college. But once I did get started, I found myself being absorbed pretty quickly into all the trashy shows and the whole MTV "culture" very quickly.

It started with following the simple daily countdown shows like TRL, or just watching music videos cycling throughout the night with friends. Then the pop music phenomenon took off, a certain "singer" named Britney Spears came along, and before I knew it, my TV was set to MTV almost exclusively. I got sucked heavily into all the trashy shows that MTV became known for, and I even wrote a good amount of entries in this blog talking about or psychoanalyzing the "characters" in all of these shows.

Perhaps I finally grew out of that little phase of my life during this past year or so, and thus it wasn't that hard to give it up this tim. Then again, I still watch Gossip Girl each week (Mondays at 7pm on the CW), so maybe that's not a valid explanation at all... haha. But when I think about it, a show like the Hills which was once my favorite show, no longer interests me as much as it used to. Music-wise, I'm not so in tune with the Emo-craze, punk bands, or even the hip-hop stuff that seems to dominate today's music scene, so it's not like I would watch it for the music factor. The point being that leading up to this decision, I really wasn't really watching the channel that much anyways.

Then as I thought about it more, I realized that the whole "MTV culture" is a pretty unhealthy influence that I am probably better off without to begin with. Not exactly an earth-shattering realization, but I guess I just never really stopped to ponder that part of it. It's a culture that promotes materialism, disregard for authority, and low moral standards. While it was entertaining to tune into the channel for that period of my life, I'd have to say that overall it did not make me a smarter or happier person at all to watch MTV all day every day - it had more of the opposite effect, if anything. The channel is definitely not something I would want my kids watching, for one thing.

Still, it does seem strange nowadays when I hear people talking about those shows, and I have no clue what's going on in any of them anymore. So admittedly, I will miss the "MTV Era" of my life, but like many other parts of my past, not so much that I would actually make a significant effort to go back to re-live it. In any case, as I make note of this milestone, I figured I would pay a short tribute by creating a little top-10 list of Best/Worst of MTV as I remember it:

- VMA's - In the past several years, the show just has gotten overhyped and just isn't the same. But during the prime years, this was actually a legitimately huge event that was worth watching live. The most memorable moment for me, which should come as no surprise to anyone, was Britney's 2000 "fake-strip" performance. Wow, I can't believe how long ago that feels now.



- CT from RW Paris and all the RW/RR Challenges - "I will WORK you. WORK. YOU." What a beast though.

- The Real World as a whole - I've written about this show so many times before in this blog, so no need to really rehash any further. Out of all of them, my favorite entry would have to be: My Real World Application (published 12/12/2005)

- Pimp My Ride - As with many other MTV shows, it got old after a couple seasons. But man were we hooked in the beginning. Xzibit as the host was a genius idea. Ironically, he'll probably be remembered more for that than for his rap career, but that's ok. No shame in that if you ask me.

- Serena Altschul and Ananda as VJ's - Not everyone will remember those names, but I know some who will agree with me that they were very underrated. I wonder whatever became of them. One thing is for sure - they were 1 million times better Jesse, the kid who became a VJ by winning some contest. That kid was quite possibly the most retarded and annoying human being ever

- Punk'd - Seeing Justin Timberlake almost cry like a baby, and call his mommy for help, was priceless. I also found the Jessica Alba episode to be very fascinating, to see how she turned into a major biatch.

- Celebrity Deathmatch - Of all the shows that get cut from television every season, it's amazing that the horrible claymation episodes of Celebrity Deathmatch managed to last as long as it did. Another thought worth noting here is that I probably associate Mills Lane more with this show, than from his work in all the major boxing matches he officiated or even from his own TV show later on, Judge Mills Lane.

- Tom Green Show - Overall not a big fan of the guy, but if anyone defines the word "obnoxious" in the dictionary, it would no doubt be Tom Green. Whatever his specialty was, he just did it so "well" that I almost have to give him credit for that alone. More than that though, I have to admit that some moments from this show made me laugh more than anything else I ever seen in my life. For some reason I can't think of that many right now, but "Undercutters Pizza" seems to come to mind as one of my favorites. And of course, the "Bum Bum Song" may have been the masterpiece of his legacy, before the mediocre movie career. "My bum is on the sweeee-dish"... hahaha



- Jackass - While Johnny Knoxville and Bam Margera probably got more attention as the "ringleaders" of the group , I think many of the show's "loyal fans" (such as myself) will agree that Steve-O was the real star of the show. Anytime a segment came up featuring Steve-O, I found myself bracing for something really horrible. From swallowing/regurgitating a goldfish, to snorting a line of wasabi, and stapling his butt cheeks together, very few people in this world manage to disturb yet entertain me at the same time like he did.

- Laguna Beach, season 1 - The love triangle between Steven, LC, and Kristen was one of the most gripping storylines I have ever followed in any show, reality or otherwise. Ironically, the one "character" that I liked the least out of the three, LC, was the one who went on to have the most success. I still miss Kristen. Something about the way that she talked, I just found to be strangely attractive. Haha don't ask me to explain because I can't. By far the best moment of the show, as I'm sure many will agree, was from the "Cabo" episode. This being when Steven was watching Kristen dancing with some other guy at the bar, and yelled "SLUT!!!" across the room. That's a scene I'll never forget.

Beijing Olympics



From a "historical" perspective, one of the defining parts of this summer was the Beijing Olympics. Now, I may not be the biggest Olympics fan out there, but I usually do tune in and try to follow the big events when they roll around every 4 years. First off, I guess I'll be Captain Obvious for a moment and make 2 quick observations that everyone else already made a long time ago:

1. Michael Phelps is a fish

2. Alicia Sacramone is hot

Now that I have that out the way, I guess I would start by saying that with every passing Olympiad since I was a kid, the Games have been steadily losing their luster in my mind. I think a lot of it comes from the doping allegations and judging scandals, which make it hard to take the sports and "winners" seriously. I find myself always wondering what goes on behind closed doors as I watch a lot of these events.

But one thing that actually bothers me more than that issue is what I consider "false patriotism", which seems to always pop up around this time. It's like all of a sudden, for 2 weeks everyone is super pumped about Team U-S-A. And what makes it worse is that I noticed that a lot of this energy spills over into the area of borderline (or outright) racism in this country.

Obviously, these particular Olympic Games hit closer to home for me, being a Chinese-American. Even though my family is from Taiwan and I personally neither support nor identify with the current Communist Chinese government of Beijing, it still bothered me to see a lot of the underlying anti-Chinese sentiments come to light during those couple of weeks that the games were taking place.

Of course, much of the bad publicity was self-inflicted by the Chinese authorities, and I'm not saying that it was wrong for the media to report on and criticize the things that they did. I'm just sad and discouraged, I guess, to see a lot of the negative stereotypes reinforced during these Olympic Games, at least judging by the general public's reaction to these reports. For example, the jokes that started to come out on Leno/Letterman type shows, commentaries by newspaper columnists and internet bloggers, or discussion on sports talk radio, all seemed to hone in on the worst aspects of Chinese stereotypes. It was just disappointing for me personally to see that there is still a lot of distrust and lack of understanding between Americans and Chinese relations.

The thing is that even though I haven't really dealt with a lot of overt racism in my life since I was in grade school, I always got the sense that there was still a significant amount of "latent racism" that was always present underneath the outer surface of today's American psyche. And every once in a while, it seems that these hidden feelings will bubble up to the surface, such as in times like these. As I said, the phenomenon of faux-patriotism that comes out every 4 years around Olympic time just seems to flush out all of this negative energy in people.

Once again, being of a Chinese-American background myself, I think a lot of this hits me more personally than usual. For one, I feel like I have always tried to live my life in a way that shows non-Asians that we aren't all small, sneaky, petty, cheap, etc., as it seems we're often portrayed by the rest of the world. Maybe it sounds cheesy, but as someone who was born into a bi-cultural situation, I do feel a certain sense of responsibility that I should play some part, however little it may be, in promoting better awareness and understanding between the two worlds that I'm caught between.

But of course, I am only one person in this world with a very limited sphere of influence. Sometimes I wonder if it really makes any difference in how other races view Chinese people, based on the way I carry myself around other people. All of these efforts could be completely worthless for all I know. I mean, do non-Chinese people even see me as a representative of the Chinese race to begin with? Who knows.

On the other hand, I definitely believe that a large-scale international event like the Olympics could make a really big impact in this respect. Ideally, something like these Games should promote better understanding between countries and different racial groups in the world, bringing us all closer together in the process of participating in friendly sports competition.

Well, I think it's safe to say that this did not occur at Beijing 2008. Whether it was the constant reports of the Chinese government "faking" things, or accusations of cheating, or just the general attitude of "Us against Them" in the medal count, so much of these games made me feel unusually awkward and even ashamed to be Chinese. Kind of like riding the school bus in 3rd grade all over again. Rather than bringing the different sides closer together, I found it to be accomplishing more of the opposite than anything else.

Anyways, I don't want this entry to ramble on too much about racism in the United States, so I'll leave it at that for now. Some other (less contentious) thoughts I had about this years games:

- The USA women's softball team losing to Japan was, as a wise woman named Alanis once said, "Ironic". Very ironic because the sport was already being canceled for the next Olympiad, due to USA being way too dominant over the rest of the world! It's like 10,000 spoons, when all you need is a knife. Either way, I didn't understand the logic behind that decision to begin with. They give out medals for events like "Olympic Trampoline" and "Walking" without anyone saying a word about it - but then they're gonna boot a real sport like softball instead? How does that make any sense? For what it's worth, I don't think they should even have BMX events, although I had a lot of fun watching it. Dirt bikes belong in the X-Games, not the Olympics. Bring back softball!

- In some of those gymnastics events (like parallel bar, rings, etc.), I always wondered what's the use of having those guys run up to "spot" the gymnasts when they do those tricks/jumps in the air and stuff. If the gymnast really slips or misses the bar, I really doubt that this one guy sticking his hand out is actually going to save them from injury.

- A bittersweet moment was watching Coach K "leading" the "Redeem Team" to the gold medal in Men's Basketball. Note that those are sarcastic quotation marks. If there's one guy I really hate in the world of college basketball (and believe me, there's much more than one person I hate), it would be Coach K. I know there's no originality points for hating Duke, but man... this guy really is so full of himself and so phony in everything he does. And nothing bugs me more than phony people. Of course I'm glad that the US finally took back the gold medal (in a sport we invented!), but I'm annoyed that Coach K had to be a part of it and is going to get credit for being the coach that got it done. As if the American Express and Chevy commercials during March Madness weren't already enough to stroke his oversized ego.

- Taiwan (otherwise known as Chinese Taipei) won 4 bronze medals. Sure, nobody else cares about Women's 48kg Weightlifting, but whatever. Go Taiwan!

A Toast On Weddings



As I'm sure everyone can attest to, weddings are one of the biggest parts of our culture, or probably just about any culture I'm aware of. Go to any bookstore or magazine stand, and you're sure to find a plethora of Bridal magazines with advice on planning the ceremony or choosing the perfect gown. We've all heard stories of "bride-zillas" who turn into psycho monsters leading up to the big day, or the families that do their part to add to the drama of the whole thing. The entire hoopla surrounding the wedding process is something that is well documented in popular movies, TV shows, and it's something that many of us have even experienced firsthand.

For me, I definitely got my share of these experiences in the past few months. If I were to do a word association with the prompt "Summer 2008", my first response, without skipping a beat, would be "weddings". Being the age that we are, I'm sure a lot of other people out there went to their share of weddings this year too, but the difference is, the ones I went to were way more special than yours. Haha, just kidding. But seriously, mine are more important (I just want to get the facts straight before I continue).

For me, the biggest wedding of this year was obviously that of my little sister. As I have shared in the past, me and my sis have had a very close and special relationship over the years, and it was a really emotional experience for me to see her take this step in her life. Emotional in a good way, for sure. I'm not (overly) ashamed to admit that I got teary-eyed more than once that day, especially during that part of the ceremony when I watched her hug my mom and dad.

Another big wedding I attended was for one of my best friends since high school (which happened to be the same weekend as my sister's wedding, in a lovely little twist of fate). If you had asked me a few years ago out of my closest circle of friends, Anuj was probably the last person I thought would get hitched, but he turned out to be the first of our group to "take the plunge". That being said, I couldn't be happier for the guy and it was awesome to see him and Hamsi finally tie the knot.

But one wedding experience I had this year that was new to me, was attending one where I did not know a single person there besides my date. Normally, I'm used to being at weddings where I'm surrounded by friends, which makes it much like a party/social type atmosphere. But in this case, I was on my own for much of the night, especially as she had bridesmaid duties to attend to throughout the festivities. As I said, it was very different than what I'm accustomed to, but it ended up not as painful or awkward as I might have expected.

In fact, being placed in this situation gave me a chance to sit back and observe more about the whole wedding "thing", for once as an unbiased third party. Without having people constantly coming up to me bugging me to drink with them or take pictures or whatever, I feel like I was able to gain a very different perspective on weddings in general. Combining that with all the other weddings I've attended as a close friend or family member of the couple, it really put me in a pensive mode on the subject of weddings in particular (hence the writing of this blog etnry).

It's often said that the wedding day is not for the groom, but all for the bride. I already mentioned the "bride-zilla" effect earlier and after all, every girl (supposedly) grows up dreaming up every detail of her wedding day - from the cut of her dress to the color of the napkins, so it will inevitably mean so much more to her than to anyone else.

But after giving it some more thought, I would argue that the day is not truly about the bride, either. While most of the focus is on the bride, I believe that a wedding is most of all about the friends and loved ones of the couple who are there to take part the celebration. Though it is the bride and groom that are being celebrated, I really feel that the true meaning of the day lies in the fact that they are sharing their celebration with those they have built close relationships with over the years.

Recently, I watched a movie where the 2 main characters were discussing about what their favorite part of each wedding is, and it got me thinking hard about the subject. There's obviously a lot to choose from - some people love to see the first kiss, others look forward to the moment when the father walks the bride down the aisle, and still others find the most meaning in the first dance.

But for me, the part I look forward to the most is hearing the toasts/speeches that are given to the bride and groom at the reception. Maybe I'm kind of demented like that, but I honestly love that part more than any of the other stuff I mentioned. Actually, I think this thought first occurred to me when I watched Julia Roberts give her toast in My Best Friend's Wedding (a movie that seems to grow on me more and more each time I watch it, and once again I'm not ashamed to admit that!). I don't know, it just struck me as a particularly climactic moment of that movie, and got me pondering about why it stuck out to me so much.

As anyone who has been to their share of wedding receptions could attest to, these toasts can sometimes be awkward or just a flat out disaster. I mean, when you have "normal" people with no experience speaking in public, getting in front of a crowd on a day when everyone is hyped up on emotions and alcohol, what else do you expect? In past weddings I have been to, I have seen the father of the bride ramble on incoherently for what seems like an eternity, while the rest of the room has no idea what he is even talking about. I have seen the best man completely embarrass the groom with inappropriate stories from their past, and I have also seen the maid of honor barely squeak out 3 words before she breaks out in tears, as the rest of the room smiles nervously.

Fortunately, I have also seen some really great toasts too, over the years. The best man at my sister's wedding, for example, had everyone at the reception rolling in laughter, which is no small accomplishment when you consider the wide range of ages and cultures present. There have also been some really memorable toasts where the person gave such amazing advice to the couple, or offered a particularly striking quote or Bible verse, so much so that I took those words and held them close to my own heart, even though it was not meant for me.

But regardless of the quality of the toast itself, the reason I appreciate these moments so much is that while it is a time devoted to the bride and groom, it is from the point of view of the friends and family who are closest to them. As I was saying before, the wedding is obviously important to the bride and groom themselves - but I do believe that the real significance of the day lies in the people who are there to witness their union and wish them well.

After all, the two of them have the rest of their lives to dedicate to each other - but this is their one chance to share that happiness with all of their loved ones. So no matter how bad the toast-giver might be at speaking in public, I almost always feel moved by the moment, because I love seeing the genuine care and blessings that these loved ones wish towards the couple, in their own way of doing it.

As I sat in that wedding where I was the "outsider" of the party, I realized that even though I barely even knew the bride and groom, I still felt really touched to see the relationships that they had built and kept over the years. The meaning behind these relationships really shone through as I watched the family members and close friends give those toasts.

Anyways, while the rest of you may continue to attending your weddings and enjoy them for the bouquet toss, the unity candle, cutting the cake, or simply for the open bar - you will most likely find me in the corner somewhere at that wedding, getting teary-eyed as the friends and family are giving their toasts.

Summer Playlist



One way I'll remember this summer (much like I do almost any other period of my life), is by the key songs that were a part of my ongoing playlist. Among the songs that will always remind me of summer 2008:

Usher - Love In This Club
Lil' Wayne - Lollipop
Chris Brown - Forever
Colbie Caillat - Realize
Ne-Yo - Closer
Mariah Carey - I'll Be Lovin' You Long TIme
Taylor Swift - Our Song
Rihanna - Take A Bow

Actually, it wouldn't be all that far off for me to simply characterize this as the "Summer of Rihanna". To be honest, I used to think her music was annoying, but then when I heard "Umbrella" for the first time on the radio, I started to change my mind. Later on, the deal was sealed when I saw her live at the United Center this May, where she was an opening act for Kanye/Lupe Fiasco. Her voice, her style, and overall stage presence really stood out that night, and suddenly I found myself crushing big time. Haha, it's weird because I was never attracted girls with short hair, and the sassy-type personality is usually is a turnoff for me. But Rihanna managed to change all of that in one swoop. Impressive, I have to admit. And as I listened to more of her songs throughout the past few months, they all seemed to grow on me and make me like her even more.

Another memorable concert from the summer was seeing Stevie Wonder in Milwaukee, at Summerfest. I've been to a pretty decent variety of live music shows over the years, from Red Hot Chili Peppers/Foo Fighters concert to a Broadway musical about gay people and HIV (Rent), or from a Britney Spears show to the Vienna Boys Choir at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra or Yo-Yo Ma at Ravinia. In among all of these experiences, this Stevie Wonder concert seemed to stand out in my mind. The diversity of the crowd, which had people of just about all ages, races, social class, is something I could not say about any of the other concerts. I guess no matter who you are, you can appreciate Stevie Wonder's music.